David Lesondak, BCSI, ATSI, FST, VMT is an Allied Health Member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He serves as the Senior Structural Integrator and Fascia Specialist at UPMC’s Center for Integrative Medicine. He is a Board Certified Structural Integrator, Anatomy Trains Structural Integrator,  Frederick Stretch Therapist, Fascial Fitness Trainer, and Visceral Manipulation.

David is the author of the international best seller Fascia: What it is and Why it Matters, now in its 2nd edition. His follow up book, Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications was nominated for a 2021 British Medical Association award. David sits on the Executive Committee of The International Consortium on Manual Therapies.

He is the  host the podcast BodyTalk with David Lesondak https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bodytalk-with-david-lesondak/id1557630659
You can find out more about David at https://www.davidlesondak.com/

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Nick Matiasz is the Scientific Program Director for the Center for Contemplative Research in North America.

Nick received his Ph.D. in medical informatics from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied causal reasoning in neuroscience. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Tufts University, where he performed interdisciplinary research in psychology and computer science. He has also worked in the Department of Neurology Research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

He is currently an Electrical Engineering Associate in Strategic Initiatives at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where he supports efforts related to renewable energy. He worked as part of a team that supported the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100), a landmark study that identified pathways for achieving 100% renewable energy in Los Angeles.

Please visit, https://centerforcontemplativeresearch.org

Go to https://somaticprimer.com/donations/ to support the show!

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Roger Jahnke, O.M.D. is a doctor of Classical Chinese Medicine with thirty years of clinical practice. He is the Founder and Director of the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi, and serves as a consultant to hospitals, social service agencies, and corporations in Complementary and Integrative Medicine.
He has authored several books including The Healer Within and his most recent book, The Healing Promise of Qi.  In 2005, Dr. Jahnke was appointed to co-convene a "National Expert Meeting on Qigong and Tai Chi" in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the National Blueprint for Active Aging.

To find out more about Dr. Jahnke, please visit www.FeeltheQi.com,  there you can find his books and programs.

To Support The Somatic Primer Podcast Please Visit www.somaticprimer.com

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Susan Lowell de Solórzano shares her understanding of biotensegrity as developed over years of direct study with the concept's originator, Stephen M. Levin, MD, and makes biotensegrity accessible through experiential activities and exercises.

Susan Lowell de Solórzano has an MA, Human Development & Education with a focus on kinesthetic learning, she is certified as a Level III T'ai Chi instructor by the American T'ai Chi & Qi Gong Association, and is a certified FlexAware teacher. Since 2012 she has been an associate of Dr Stephen M Levin, originator of the theory of biotensegrity. Susan is a co-founder and Head Organizer, DC BIG (Washington, DC Biotensegrity Interest Group; est. 2012) and co-founder of the Stephen M Levin Biotensegrity Archive.

Ling to her book: Everything Moves: How Biotensegrity Informs Human Movement
https://uk.singingdragon.com/collections/author-susan-lowell-de-sol-rzano-pid-300255

If you liked the episode we'd really appreaciate your support. Please visit our webpage for classes and/or donations. Thanks! https://somaticprimer.com

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Jeando is a master Alexander teacher and historian. He translated all of Alexanders books into French. While working on these translations Jeando discovered that Alexander had studied the Delsarte method.  Jeando focused on this early work and created his own version of the Alexander Technique called the Initial Alexander Technique.

In this episode we discuss:
What is the Alexander Technique
Why the Alexander technique is not somatic
The origins of the technique 
FM Alexander & the Delsarte technique
Identity or ethos in movement

If you’d like to find about Jeando and his work you can visit his website initial-alexandertechnique.com where he publishes an insightful blog about the work and history of the method. For classes & private lessons with me please visit somaticprimer.com 

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Paulie Zink began studying yoga and martial arts as a teenager. While he was in college, he met a gung-fu master from Hong Kong named Cho Chat Ling.  Master Cho taught him  the Taoist arts of yoga and Chi Kung as a foundation for his martial arts training. Master Cho taught Paulie three distinct Kung-fu styles collectively called Tai Shing Pek Kwar ( Monkey kung fu).

For seven years Paulie Zink continued his daily intensive level of study with his master while he simultaneously developed his own art of Yin yoga. After ten years Master Cho declared Paulie to be his own master and his training ended. Paulie is the only westerner to be traditionally trained in the  art of Tai Shing Pek Kwar in a direct Chinese lineage from the arts’ originators.

Paulie entered in the solo “Empty Hands” and “Weapons” divisions of approximately one hundred martial arts tournaments from local to regional to national levels. He won the Grand Championship in all of them, often in both divisions. Master Zink’s tournament career culminated with him winning the Grand Championship at the Long Beach International Karate Championships three consecutive years. Master Zink has been inducted into three Martial Arts Halls of Fame. Master Zink has co-authored two books on Monkey Kung-fu.

As the founder of Yin yoga, he continues to evolve his Taoist art by adding postures, variations, and insights. Through many years of study, practice, and teaching he has developed the ancient Taoist tradition into his own distinctive and dynamic style.

In this episode we discuss

His early training with Master Cho

Developing and teaching Yin Yoga

His philosophy of movement and teaching

Studying animal movement as a form of training

And much more

To connect with me please visit http://somaticprimer.com.
To find out more about Paulie please visit https://www.pauliezink.com.

Paulie's live competition where he preforms the money gong fu form.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOvw1y26yFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2NCQJqDJuI&list=PL4fGB-EUUulGArDXktmZXXtzi8fd0UJIj&index=3

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Don Hanlon Johnson is a professor at CIIS in San Francisco and the founder of the first graduate degree program in Somatics. He is the author of a body of literature on the intersections among bodily experience, the natural world, spirituality, social justice, and health.

After studying and practicing the work of Ida Rolf, he founded the first masters degree program in Somatic Psychology. He was a professor in that program for some 30 years. He currently is teaching in newly launched Somatics emphasis in the doctoral program of Integral and Transpersonal Psychologies.

In this episode we discuss:
Importance of somatics
Divisions among somatic disciplines
The unfortunate Disembodiement of western academics
His relationship with Thomas Hanna and creating the somatic journal
Somatics and ethics
Somatics and consciousness
& much more...

To find our more about his work please visit https://donhanlonjohnson.com. If you'd like to find our more about my work or take lessons please visit http://somaticprimer.com. Please enjoy the show.

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Des Lawton has been a practising martial artist for over thirty years. He was a close student of Master Joseph Bell who is a direct lineage descendant of Master Wang Jiu Mei.

Des is now the Principal Instructor of the San Bao Martial Arts School . He  teaches Taiji and Taijiquan classes in and around the Glasgow area and has developed a diploma course in Healing Qigong. He teachies both for Community Education projects and within resource groups for people with learning difficulties and special needs.

In this episode we discuss:
His background in the healing arts
What is qi and why it matters
We try to define some of the esoteric language in the internal arts
How to approach and learn the internal arts

You can find out more about Des and take his online classes at https://sanbaoschool.co.uk

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Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University as well as Co-Founder and President of Tibet House US/Menla in service of HH Dalai Lama & the people of Tibet. A close friend of the Dalai Lama’s for over 50 years, he is a leading world-wide lecturer on Tibetan Buddhism, passionate activist for the plight of the Tibetan people, skilled translator of Buddhist texts, and inspiring writer of popular Buddhist books.

He met the H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1962. After learning Tibetan and studying Buddhism he decided to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk and was the first Westerner to be ordained by the Dalai Lama. After living as a monk for several years He returned to Harvard to finish his PhD.

In this episode we discuss:
His time as a monk in India
Meeting the Dalai Lama
Somatic Practices in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Yoga
Environmental issues and how modern society is disconnected from nature

 Vajra Yoga Course  begins  October 22,  - January 28, at Menla Retreat Center https://thusmenla.org/p/vajra-yoga-fall-immersion-online-only

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Sam Cutler is an Honors Graduate in Contemporary History  and a qualified teacher  from the University of Cambridge. Cutler worked for Blackhill Enterprises as stage manager and master of ceremonies on a series of 1960s gigs in the U.K. and Europe with such artists, as Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones. In 1969, he acted as master of ceremonies at the Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park London. Following the Hyde Park show, Cutler was asked to be the personal road manager to The Rolling Stones during their 1969 Tour of America.

Following that tour Cutler was befriended by Jerry Garcia and so stayed in the U.S.  and was subsequently hired by the Grateful Dead as their tour manager and agent. Cutler organized the Grateful Dead's appearances at a number of memorable events including: the 1970 Festival Express Tour of Canada, The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen  and the 1972 European Tour of the Grateful Dead, the results of which can be heard on the Dead's triple live album Europe '72. Throughout his rock and roll career, Cutler was around and was agent for some of the largest rock and roll shows in history. Sam wrote a book commemorating his time with the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead titled You Can't Always Get What You Want: My Life with the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and other Wonderful Reprobates.  Sam now lives a more contemplative life in Australia practicing dharma. 

In this Episode we discuss:

• Sams early interest in Buddhism
• Metta and non-violence
• His daily  Buddhist practice
• The Grateful Dead's interest in Buddhism
• Kindness as a daily practice 

For more information & upcoming courses please visit https://somaticprimer.com  Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.

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